nosy Parker (also written nosey Parker)
noun phrase (British, informal)

- a person who involves himself in the affairs of other people

- a person who is overly interested in finding out information about other people

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WORD ORIGIN

A nosy person is someone who likes to "stick their nose" in other people’s business.

Exactly how the expression nosy Parker came about is unclear. One popular theory is that the original nosy Parker was Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559-1575. The Archbishop apparently took an unusually high interest in the behaviour and conduct of the members of his church (this was not uncommon in the 16th century).

Since this phrase was not recorded until around the turn of the 20th century however, many people doubt the accuracy of this theory.

In his 1989 book Wicked Words, Hugh Rawson suggests that nosy Parkers were actually people who lurked around Hyde Park spying on "amorous" couples. Supporting this theory is the fact that park keepers in England were once called "parkers".

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SYNONYMS

busybody, buttinsky, kibitzer, meddler, snooper

(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)

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Practice OWAD in a conversation today, say something like:

"Be careful speaking about company matters in public, there are lots of NOSY PARKERS around !"